Method of making multicolor pictures



- I A. OWENS r METHOD- dF MAKING MULTICOLOR PICTURiE'S Filed April 14, 1920 11v VENTOR Edward A. Owens ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 11, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD A. owns, or san'rnancrsco',

CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO .SELECTASINE SYSTEM INC OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

.MEfIEOD or MAKING MULrIcoLoR rrc'ronns. 1

To all it may concern: Be itknown that I, EDWARD A. Owens, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city and county of San Francisco and .5 State of California, havev invented a new and useful Improvement in Methods of Mak.

15 ethod of delineatingor reproducing pictures, etc, Serial No. 290,374. It is in the nature of a modification or outgrowth of .Patent No. 1,254,764, dated January 29,

1918. I 0 The )urpose' of the co-pendingapplication re erred to wasto 'provide a method of reproducing a multi-color picture through the use of opaque colors and screens, where-.

' by the different color areasde-posited or run 25 through a screen are permitted to join'each other along marginallines and when so 'ap plied form .asingle coat or layer of'radjoining colors. In other words, in this'copending case and inthe present instance there'is no superimposing of colors and lateau-building. producing an embossed e ect I as in Patent No. 1,254,764, above referred to.

While the method of theco-pending application for producing colored pictures results in a product of great beauty and novelty and is quite suitable undersome conditions, it however lacks the clear cut features and definite outlining which is sometimes required. I The purpose of the present invention is to overcome this objection by providing a method whereby the colore areas may be outlined. by definite demarcations or key lines wherever desired, thus making it ,possible to reproduce apicture or design which is difiicult to distinguish from protures produced by multi-color printing.

. Another object of the invention is to provide a method 'whereby a picture or design lined and reproduced without overlaying of colors, on a semi-smooth or rough surface such as paper. leather, glass, metal, etc, by forcing the different colors through screens and each co o th ough a difierent portion produced.

containing several colors may be clearly out-r Application filed April 14, 1920. Serial 1%. 873,828.

of a. screen; further to provide a method whereby portions of a screen employed are first temporarily and then permanently masked as successive colors are transferred or applied The method will hereinafter be more fully described and claimed having reference to the accompanying drawings in which- 1 Fig. 1 1s a view of the original multicolored sketch or master pattern to be re- Fig. 2 is a view of the screen, showin the master pattern traced, photographs or otherwise reproduced thereon.

Fig. '3 is a view of the card before any color is applied. i-

Fig. 4 is a similarview showing a blue color applied.

Fig. 5 shows the green color applied.

I Fig.6 shows a brown color.

Fig. 7 shows the last color, which is yellow, applied, and the reproducing operation completed.

Fig. 8 is a. perspective of the stencil or screen frame through which the colors are applied.

In conducting the present method. of transferring colors when reproducing multicolor pictures or designs, a screen or tightly "stretched bolting cloth, or other suitable maover the drawing or picture to be reproduced andthe outline of the picture is then traced 00 directly upon the screen. The picture may of course be otherwise transferred to the screen, for instance by photography or otherwise. The picture to be transferred is as stated traced upon the screen either by ,LJ pencil or ink. This tracing is an'outline of the picture and will hereinafter be referred to as the key line drawing. These key lines partiall or wholly separate the several color areas 0 the picture;these,key lines being drawn in and then permanently masked or blocked out so that no paint can be forced through these lined portions, nor will the lines nor the masking material applied over them be erased or removed during sub'sequent operations.

There are several masking materials that may be em loyed, among" which may be mentioned, ue, varnish, shellac, etc. These masking materials are, soluble in different stencils cut from paper, tissue, metal, or any other material best hand.

suited for the work in For the purpose of clearly explaining the masking out method, We will assume that shellac is employed for the purpose of permanently masking out the key lines of the picture and any color area'which it is desired to permanently retain. The shellac, where a fluid-like mask is used, is applied by a pen or a brush and the outlines of the picture are therefore traced with shellac. Manifestly these key lines may be fine hair lines or may be heavier according to the effect desired. This first blocking. or masking step of the process which embodies the key lines and color areas to be ermanently retained, such for example as t e surface color of the card e. black, is what is known as a permanent blocking out step, since these key lines and the restricted areas of the foundation color of the card, e. g. black, on the screen will not be reopened, i. e. made permeable to paint at any time during the reproduction of the picture and in fact are never re-opened or removed unless it may be desired to employ the screen for other pictures. I

In making picture reproductions, such as here shown, on non-transparent materials, such as paper, leather, metal, etc., it is de sirable to save as much coloring'matter as possible. The color of the card employed is therefore selected as a base color, for example in this instance, black, as shown in Fi 3. All black areas or key lines that it is desired to retain, are therefore permanently masked out, thereby rendering it unnecessary to run a. black color, thus saving coloring material to this extent, and also saving the labor and time involved, due to the fact that one color run will be eliminated. It may however happen that a base coloring of desired effect is not'obtainable and that the key'line and other color areas ma have to be applied. This can be accomplis 16d by first masking out'the key lines and the color areas referred to and then appl ing the several other color areas, then mas ing out said color areas and opening up the key lines and the first color areas referred to and finally applying the key lines and color areas by transferring any color desired. In other words the key lining of the picture would be the last step of the process. This step of the process is however only resorted to when the base color of the material used is not suitable and its use is otherwise only resorted to when printing on glass where it is desired to obtain a transparent key line picture.

After the permanent masking of the key lines and other limited areas has been accomplished, the next step is blockin or masking with a temporary mask, suc as glue, all the color areas or portions of the screen except that through which the first color is to be run.

By referring to the different views of the drawings it is assumed that it is desired to apply blue as the first color. Hence all of the color areas on the screen are masked or blocked out temporarily with the exception of the blue areas which comprise the sky and windows so that when the blue color is deposited upon the screen no portion of the card under the screen will receive paint or color except that portion where it is desired to apply the blue.

Any suitable temporary masking material may be employed, as for instance glue. This glue is applied to all portions of the screen except where the bluecolor is to be deposited and the meshes of the screen are therefore merely temporarily closed by filling the interstices of the screen. This masking prevents any paint from passing through and as the main area or picture of the screen is blocked with glue, which is soluble in water, it is obvious that any desired portion thereofmay be re-opened whenever it is desired to apply another color by simply washing out the glue covering that particular portion, but without disturbing any of the rest of the screen.

The face of the card upon which the colors are to be deposited, that is which the picture is to be reproduced, is in this instance black as shown in Fig. 3 and all key lines and areas which it is desired to retain,

will therefore appear in black when the picture is completed. The outlines of the design are, as previously stated, traced or painted out in skeleton form on the screen as shown in Fig. 2 by a stepping out or masking material, as for example, shellac, as this is not affected by the water when reopening temporarily covered areas of the screen. These outlines may be as heavily reinforced as desired it substantial key lines are required between colors or may be merely traced with ink and painted up to with the temporary maskin material if each color is to key or join the other, that is wheredefinite key lines are not re uired. It is also possible by not quite blocking up to the traced outlines to insure that one color will slightly lap or margin on the other. This is highly desirable in some instances and may be resorted to Whenever required.

If black, the foundation color of the card is to form other parts of the picture, as for instance as here shown, the trees, the smoke,

p the word House, and the margin line around a stencil screen,

[ill

the picture, it is retained by the first permanent masking operation which consisted in applying shellac to the key lines of'the picture and to the color areas which it was desired to retain.

When a color is to be applied it is only necessary to place the card shown at 4: (see Fig. 3) below the'screen stencil frame in such a manner that a perfect register is always obtained. The frame supporting the having the picture outlines thereon, is preferably hinged to a flat surfaceadapted to receive the cards from which the picture is to be reproduced, and any suitable means may be provided for securing a perfect register between the cards and the frame for each successive color run.

The colors employed are of suitable opaque plastic consistency and usuallyconsist of water or oil color. In practice they are applied by pouring onto the screen surface and forcing the color through the open meshes by means of aflexible scraper, commonly known as a squeegee, operated by even pressure over the surface of the screen. The color applied is thus forced evenly through the open meshes of thescreen and will adhere to the surface of the card and cover the parts desired. After each color is applied, the card is carefully set aside to dry before the next color is run.

Assuming blue. indicated at 5, (see Fig. 4) has been appliedto all the cards, it is next necessary to change thescreen to permit the application of the next color. in this case, green as shown at 6. (,See Fig. 5.)

.This is accomplished by first thoroughly washing the screen withturpentine to remove all traces of paint. The turpentine neither affects the key line and permanent masking, nor the temporary masking since neither shellac nor glue are soluble in turpentine. Then that portion of the screen through which the blue color was run is permanently masked with shellac. Next that portion of the screen through which. it is desired to transfer the green color is opened. This is accomplished preferably in practise by washing'the entire screen with water until the glue or temporary mask has been thoroughly dissolved leaving unaffected the shellacked portion of the screen. Next it is again necessary temporarily to remask the open portions of the screen, except that through which the next color e. g. green is to be transferred. The screen is now ready for use and the green color will be applied by placing each successive card under the screen and forcing the green color through the samebymeans of the squeegee. Each card receives its. green coat and is allowed to dry and the operation is continued until all. the cards have been run for green.

The. screen will then. again be washed ragged and undesirable effect.

with turpentine to remove 511 paint adhering thereto. Next, the portions of the screen which were open when the green color was applied will now be permanently maskedout with shellac. Next, the portions which represents the brown color, which it is assumed is the third to be run, and which still rema1n.masked with the temporary mask. will be opened by washing out the glue with" water, and reblocking for all except the green areas. The brown color is then applied to each card. The screen, is again washed'toremove the paintand the cycle of operations repeated for each succeeding color' until'the final result produced is that shown in Fig. 7.

From the foregoing it is seen that the screen stencil when first employed is entirely open; that the first step is that of tracing the key lines ofthe picture and the color run is permanently masked and that the next area through which the color is to be run is open by removal ofthe tempo rary mask, either for the particular color area orforthe entire screen and ,the screen remasked to leave uncovered only that portion through which the particular color 1s to be run; that. each area after its particular color run is permanently masked so that the entire screen finally becomes permanently masked out withthe exception of that por tion through which the lastcolor is run.

It will further be seen that the respective colors are run through different portions of the screen and that no two colors are forced through the same portions or meshes of the screen. In other words the colors'are applied in single layers side by side and not superimposed as in the patentedprocess aforesaid. The present method is of great practical importance as it permits the economical re roduction of multicolored pictures close y reseinbling those made by the more expensive methods of lithography and printing,

By this method of blocking out the screen and running the colors, pictures with clean cut margins. are reproduced and with even greater brilliance than is attained by lithographing or three-color prin-"ngx llhe invention is also useful for rinting transparent material where light shining through the same would otherwise show joints of overlap ing colors or In making glass signs all the colors of produce a Cal the design are first run and the key lines and back ground color are applied last. Glass signs are printed on the back usually and in this case the marginal lines between the color patches would be open and would black color. applied would therefore passthrough the key lines and would fill the space between the different color areas and thereby give the outline or definition desired. Again after the several colors have been run, it would be possible to give the picture its definition by applying a coat of black paint to the entire surface. This picture would however not be transparent due to the black backing coat applied.

While the description specifies a screen supported or otherwise tightly stretched on a rigid frame, it is understood that the screen proper may be stiffened to such an extent that a frame may not be required, and it is also possible that it may be otherwise supported; similarly while a single screen is in most instances employed to advantage, it is understood that two or more screens may be employed if desired. In other words the success of the present method is not dependent primarily upon the use of a single screen, although that is the preferred method in actual practice.

The discovery that different substances, i. e. glue, shellac, etc., used in this process are soluble in different solutions, i. e. water, alcohol, etc., forms the subject matter of a separate application about to be filed by another.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A method of producing multicolor pictures which consists in running successive colors through a screen, each color through a different portion of a screen, and each color area separated by key lines upon the screen.

2. A method of producing multi-color pictures which consists in running successive colors through a screen, each color through a different portion of a screen and certain color areas run defined and separated by key lines.

3. A method of reproducing multi-color pictures or designs which consists in forcing a succession of colors through a screen and each color through a different portion of a screen and in such a manner that adjoining color areas are separated.

4. A method of reproducing n'iulti-color pictures or designs which consists in tracmg a skeleton outline of the picture to be reproduced upon a tightly stretched screen, said outline enclosing the different color areas of the picture, permanently masking said outline, temporarily masking all areas except where a color is to be transferred through the screen; opening the next color area to be run and permanently blocking each area after a color has been run therethrou h.

5. method of masking stencil screens when reproducing color pictures, designs, etc., which consists in transferring the key lines of the picture to a screen. applying a permanent masking-out material on said key lines, covering the remaining area of the screen with a temporary mask, except where the first color is to be transferred through the screen, permanently masking out said area after the color transfer. removing thetemporary mask where the next color transfer takes place, and permanently remasking each area after a color transfer until the entire screen is permanently masked, except that portion through which the last color is to be transferred.

6. A method of masking stencil screen whenreproducing colored pictures, designs, etc., which consists in transferring the key lines of the picture to be reproduced to the screen, applying a masking material to said key lines, applying another masking material on the remaining areas of the screen. except where the first color is to be transferred' through the screen, permanently masking said areas after the color transfer, removing the last named mask where the next color transfer takes place, permanently masking each area after a color has been transferred therethrough, and finally removing the keyline mask to transfer a key line color therethrough.

7 A method of reproducing multi-colored pictures or designs which consists in running successive colors through separate stencils adapted to be supported by gauzelike material, each color'area being separated by key-lines forming a part of each stencil and each color area defined and separated by said lines.

8. A method of reproducing multi-colored pictures or designs which, consists in forcing a plurality of colors through a plurality of stencils through the medium of a screen supporting the stencils. each color being forced through a different area of the 'screenand the detail defined by key-lines forming a part of each stencil.

9. The method of producing multicolored pictures by means of a screen which consists of forming an outline of the picture on the screen, blocking out all other portions of the. screen except those portions through which a single color is to be forced, in then forcing coloring material through the unblocked portions of the screen upon the article to be colored, then rebloeking said screen to block out all portions thereof except those portions through which another color is to be forced and constituting a portion of said screen through which color was not forced in the first stenciling step, and in forcing another coloring material through the portions of the screen left open on the reblocking operation, upon a different portion of the article to be colored than that to which thefirst coloring material was apall other portions of the screen except those The method of roducing multicolored portions through which a single color is to be forced, in then forcing coloring material through the unblocked portions ofthe screen upon the article to be colored. then reblocking said screen-to block out all portions thereof except those portions through which another color is to be forced and constituting a portion of said screen through which color was not forced in the first stenciling step, and in forcing another coloring material through the portions of the screen left open on the reblocking operation, upon a different portion of the article to be colored than that to which the firstcoloring material was applied.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDWARD A. OWENS. Witnesses:

THOS. Cosrenno, JOHN H. Humane. 

